Appeal notices filed in La. gay marriage case

NEW ORLEANS- Gay marriage supporters in Louisiana have given formal notice of their appeal of a federal court ruling upholding the state's same-sex marriage ban.

Forum for Equality Louisiana and several gay couples filed their notices Friday in their challenge of the ban. The appeal now goes to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where a Texas gay-marriage case also is pending.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman upheld Louisiana's ban on same-sex marriages and its refusal to recognize same-sex unions legally performed in other states.